Archives for January 2017

Journal of Herpetology publishes second language abstracts in all languages. We seek students (or interested professionals) who are fluent in languages other than English and Spanish to assist the editors in verifying the second language abstracts. We would like to build a list of herpetologists who would be willing to perform this service for every language. This would only require a few minutes of your time and would be a great help to the editors. If you are willing to volunteer, please email Co-Editor Tiffany Doan stating your contact information and the languages in which you have fluency.

Sponsored by: American Society of Ichthyologists & Herpetologists (ASIH), The Herpetologists’ League (HL), and the Society for the Study of Amphibians & Reptiles (SSAR)

The Herpetology Education Committee is seeking nominations for the 2017 Meritorious Teaching Award in Herpetology, which will be presented at the Joint Meetings of Ichthyologists & Herpetologists (JMIH). This award recognizes superior teaching effectiveness and mentoring of students in the area of herpetology, and provides student members of the North American herpetological societies the opportunity to honor individuals who have made significant contributions to herpetological education, in either the classroom or mentoring student research endeavors. Winners of the award will be encouraged to become active in the HEC, which will facilitate continuity of the HEC and maintenance of the standards by which future awards are bestowed.

Letters of nomination are due to the HEC Chair by 31 March 2017. Please see the linked document below for full details.

We are sad to announce the passing of Ermi Zhao (赵尔宓), a colleague, friend, scientist and world-renowned herpetologist, last month in December 2016. Zhao Ermi is best known as the former deputy director of the Chengdu Institute of Biology, who presided over a prodigiously productive program of new species discoveries, systematic analysis, and biogeographic explorations becoming one of the leading experts of Chinese herpetology. He is best known to western scientists as the co-author of Herpetology of China with Kraig Adler in 1993. In addition, he wrote several books on Chinese amphibians and reptiles and wrote over 140 scientific papers including several new species, subspecies and even generic descriptions for amphibians and reptiles. He became a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2001 and was named an Honorary Foreign Member of ASIH in 2008. Zhao Ermi will be remembered for his curious mind, his scientific rigor and dedication to herpetology.